please help me understand this

I was looking for a view point on why they got upset when they found out I was there for the money.

I lost my job in '83, '84 & '85 due to the recession that put most companies out of business. I had three small kids to support. I grabbed my chainsaw and went to work logging firewood. I made $$ at the expense of my body now. I logged well into the late 90's. I actually worked two jobs. There was no way I was going to fail. I loved my engineering job for many years. Then the management changed. So I did as I was told.
 
One day while walking down the street a highly successful HR Director (insert boss's name here) was tragically hit by a bus and she died. Her soul arrived up in heaven where she was met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter himself.

"Welcome to Heaven," said St. Peter. "Before you get settled in though, it seems we have a problem. You see, strangely enough, we've never once had a Human Resources Director make it this far and we're not really sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," said the woman. "Well, I'd like to,"replied St. Peter, "but I have higher orders. What we're going to do is let you have a day in Hell and a day in Heaven and then you can choose whichever one you want to spend an eternity in."

"Actually, I think I've made up my mind, I prefer to stay in Heaven,"said the woman.

"Sorry, we have rules..." And with that St. Peter put the executive in an elevator and it went down-down-down to hell. The doors opened and she found herself stepping out onto the putting green of a beautiful golf course. In the distance was a country club and standing in front of her were all her friends - fellow executives that she had worked with and they were all dressed in evening gowns and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on both cheeks and they talked about old times. They
played an excellent round of golf and at night went to the country club where she enjoyed an excellent steak and lobster dinner. She met the Devil who was actually a really nice guy (kinda cute) and she had a great time telling jokes and dancing. She was having such a good time that before she knew it, it was time to leave.
Everybody shook her hand and waved good-bye as she got on the elevator. The elevator went up-up-up and opened back up at the Pearly Gates and she found St. Peter waiting for her.

"Now it's time to spend a day in heaven," he said. So she spent the next 24 hours lounging around on clouds and playing the harp and singing.
She had a great time and before she knew it her 24 hours were up and St. Peter came and got her. "So, you've spent a day in hell and you've spent a day in heaven. Now you must choose your eternity," he said. The woman paused for a second and then replied, "Well, I never thought I'd say this, I mean, Heaven has been really great and all, but I think I had a better time in Hell." So St. Peter escorted her to the elevator and again she went down-down-down back to Hell.

When the doors of the elevator opened she found herself standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth. She saw her friends were dressed in rags and were picking up the garbage and putting it in sacks. The Devil came up to her and put his arm around her.

"I don't understand," stammered the woman, "yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a country club and we ate lobster and we danced and had a great time. Now all there is, is a wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable."

The Devil looked at her and smiled. "Yesterday we were recruiting you, today you're staff..."
 
I retired 2 years ago. The company I worked for was dying. The boss had run it into the ground. I worked extra hours, took on extra clients, I took a pay cut to help the company. I decided to retire right after I found out that the boss and her assistance took the pay raise that I turned down because they thought the were entitled to it. I lost faith in the boss and all my respect for her. I can't work for people I don't respect and that don't respect me.
 
From your original post I would have never have told them I was there only for the money. Instead I would have asked politely what things i "should be" concentrating on to get a raise in the future. IMO, what you did probably got you labeled as not a company man.

Regarding someone patenting your ideas, that is illegal. If you still have the records to prove that you invented the idea you can have their patent invalidated. This happened to my grandfather in the '40s and it still happens today. It drives patent attorneys nuts.

Best advice I can give you is to "let it go". Good luck and have a happy life!
 
I got laid off in November from the worst job I've had in thirty years.

It didn't matter how hard or how well you worked. You were just so much garbage to them. Not only were you not rewarded for competence or hard work, you weren't paid for the work you did. We were told it was a "privilege" to be "allowed" to work four hours unpaid overtime, and to be treated like filth in the bargain, because OCCASIONALLY we got off early. I definitely worked more unpaid overtime than I got time off.

And there was no paid vacation, sick days or holidays. We frequently showed up for work and were told to decide AMONG OURSELVES who was going home unpaid because they didn't properly allocate resources.

I did however have the "privilege" of getting mixed up with the Cleveland Clinic Police because my employer hired and retained the mentally unstable and the violent. I refused to talk to the police without representation and told the degenerate weasel of a project manager exactly that when he advised me to give a statement to the cops. If the cops had believed my lunatic team lead (who falsely and KNOWINGLY cited me as a witness) instead of my lawyer (or worse, me), I might have been charged with obstruction or lying to the police.

In today's joke of an economy, employers are emboldened to treat workers like slave laborers in a Japanese coal mine in Manchukuo.
 
jaykellogg said:
From your original post I would have never have told them I was there only for the money. Instead I would have asked politely what things i "should be" concentrating on to get a raise in the future.
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On the job I had previous to this three month contract gig, he would have been told "NOTHING"... along with being denied pay for the work he actually did.

Of course they might have offered him a raise to take on more responsibility... then not given him the money.

That's what they did to a friend of mine. When he demanded the money they owed him, they threatened to fire him.

He quit without notice to take a better job for ten dollars more an hour. The piece of filth project manager sent out an email calling that "unprofessional". Apparent the mark of true "professionalism" is forcing hourly workers to work illegal, unpaid overtime, to lie about pay to get people to take positions, and to expose workers to criminal prosecution because of a despicable lack of management ability.
 
I've never been in a union, and short of seeing my children starving, will never be in one.

I've always tried to do everything expected of me, as well as anything else I saw that needed doing. The money just fell into my lap afterwards.

A company isn't there to provide jobs. It exists to make the owners money. An employee is a necessary evil in the process to make money.

When you think you are important, here's a little test to show you how important you really are. Stick your hand in a bucket of water. Pull it out. The hole it left represents the hole you will leave behind when you leave.

If you are worth more than you are being paid, go somewhere else and get what you are worth. If you can't find someone else who will pay more for what you do, then you are very likely overpaid.
 
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gregintenn said:
If you can't find someone else who will pay more for what you do, then you are very likely overpaid.
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If you can't find someone else who will pay more for what you do (or indeed, just pay you for WHAT you do), then you are very likely living in America in 2014.
 
Maybe I'm an idiot, I don't know but when I did factory work, it was for the good of the company and productivity. There were those that said, "I'm not going to do any extra work, they're not paying me extra."
I was always over 100% productivity and accuracy. Guess who got the higher raises when performance reviews came up?
This "It's not my job" or people trying to get away with doing minimal work then complaining of getting less pay makes me feel ill.
No I didn't kiss butt or take any poop. I just worked hard and went home feeling good that I did an honest days work and did more than earned my paycheck.
There are some badly managed companies out there. When I ran into that, I'd find another job and get the hell out of there.
Now when I make a leather product for somebody, I do the best I'm physically able to do. I don't do just enough because I'm just in it for the money. I take great pride in my work and I believe that the client deserves the highest quality product for their hard earned money.
 
gregintenn said:
I've never once been accused of being a good judge of people.:)
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With the possible exception of AFSCME, if I'd worked for the government, NO job I've EVER had would likely be unionized.

Be honest, work hard and you'll get ahead is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

Businesses have more potential workers than they know what to do with. Apparently some of them figure that they don't need to pay a decent wage, or even pay for the work done at the agreed upon wage. They'll just fire or lay off people who object too much to being exploited, and take the chance that they can't or won't sue, or that the government won't prosecute them for violating the LAW.

For all of the respect my last employer had for its employees, we might as well have been Jews in striped pajamas, building V-2s in a coal mine in Bohemia.
 
snubbyfan said:
There are some badly managed companies out there. When I ran into that, I'd find another job and get the hell out of there.
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That's a good idea... when the country isn't in a near depression and "another job" isn't flipping burgers... or no job at all.

Employers know they have you over a barrel today and they're determined to get that last drop of blood out of the stones they refer to with a smirk as "employees".
 
Money

My Dad told me hard work & low wages take along time. And an easy way to make money is to buy someone for what he is worth & sell him for what he thinks he is worth . Is this not the lounge ? OldSeabee
 
cmort666 said:
That's a good idea... when the country isn't in a near depression and "another job" isn't flipping burgers... or no job at all.

Employers know they have you over a barrel today and they're determined to get that last drop of blood out of the stones they refer to with a smirk as "employees".
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So you had the only job in America left that wasn't "flipping burgers?"

Do you consider "flipping burgers" beneath you?

If I took a job flipping burgers, my short term goal would be to become the next manager. I would do that by being the best burger flipper they ever saw.

I guess we just see the world from different perspectives.
 
snubbyfan said:
Guess who got the higher raises when performance reviews came up?
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this is not the norm any more...everybody at my company get the same raise, if we even get one...well except one guy...he missed a few weeks due to back surgery...didn't miss any other days...he didn't get a raise...

snubbyfan said:
There are some badly managed companies out there. When I ran into that, I'd find another job and get the hell out of there.
Click to expand...

this is the norm...those other jobs aren't out there
 
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Worker bees,

I've had plenty of jobs working for others. I still kinda of do.

I've seen so many fools in charge of things that had no clue. I've seen others that have been there and done that.

Truth be told, I've never been good at kissing butt.

I've made myself indispensable instead.
 
Sounds to me like most of you should have joined a union.
Let's see;
Boss treats you like ****. check
Forced to work overtime without pay. Check
Underpaid for the hours you do work. Check

I made it thirty years in my union. I went from apprentice to project superintendent. I taught mathematics, drafting and rigging in our apprenticeship schools. I was an OSHA and MSHA outreach instructor. I choose to perform to succeed.

To the OP. I had a rule that I always followed; "Till the first check bounced". That was as far as my loyalty went. I always did my job, better than expected. When I began running work, my focus was on getting my people home safe each night then getting the job done as fast as possible. I never had a contract go over, and I have run over 3.5 million man-hours of work without a lost time accident. Through all those years, I never made a secret of the fact my loyalty was to my union, my people and then the job.
 
gregintenn said:
If I took a job flipping burgers, my short term goal would be to become the next manager. I would do that by being the best burger flipper they ever saw.
Click to expand...

don't happen that way...you could flip your buns off and the restaurant owner's daughters baby daddy gets hired off the street for the manager position
 
speedyquad said:
don't happen that way...you could flip your buns off and the restaurant owner's daughters baby daddy gets hired off the street for the manager position
Click to expand...
I'm 40, and have worked since I was 8, and that has never been my experience.

I know you don't like to hear it, but some of you need to quit looking at management, and start looking in the mirror for the source of what's holding you back.
 
I guess that's part of the thing about living in little town West Virginia. There are warehouses and factories out here that are always looking for people. They're not high paying prestigious jobs but they do pay enough to earn a living. Ya get dirty, sweaty and physically tired but it's honest hard work. If management gets unbearably unfair you can take a temp to hire position elsewhere and you're out of there. I've done that a few times.
People out here don't say that a job's too menial or beneath them, a job's a job and a paycheck's a paycheck.
Also, local out here can mean a 50 mile commute one way.
When people say that somethings the "norm" that may apply to them but there's more to the world than just them.
 
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